Who is Kate Fine?
by SlytherinLove30
Summary: Maxwell Sheffield took the death of his wife very hard. How will he deal when his youngest daughter goes M.I.A soon afterwards?
1. Chapter 1

**Los Angeles, California**

Losing a spouse is one of the hardest thing a person could go through, no matter how long you have been together and even more so when there are children involved. When Sarah Sheffield past away her husband Maxwell was a mess. He threw himself into his work, locked himself in his office and cut himself off from their children. Consequently, Margaret, Brighton and Grace became empty shells of the people they once were. That is until Fran Fine came into their lives. She made Maxwell realize what he was missing when it comes to his children growing up. He also found a second love in Fran and they had two more children together.

Jonah was always just like his father. He had the same business sense and the same drive. Ever since he was ten years old, he wanted to be a lawyer and go to Stanford. He was also the smartest one in all of his classes at school. Unlike her twin brother, Eve was nothing like her father. They never saw eye to eye on anything. Fran had always tried to be the mediator for her husband and daughter but they still fought constantly.

Then things took a turn for the worst. When the twins were seventeen years old the family was shaken with the news that Fran had cancer. While she was in the hospital, Max and Eve became closer. They had finally found common ground in their worry and pain. A month after Jonah and Eve graduated high school the following year, Fran past away and the cycle began to repeat itself.

"Hey kiddo! Where's dad?" Brighton asked, walking into his father's house one Saturday in August. To him the house was now bland ever since his step-mother died. He and his older sister, Maggie had tried to cheer up their three younger siblings but they didn't have much success since they weren't doing too well themselves.

"Where the hell do you think?" Eve said snidely. The other Sheffield children had gotten used to her attitude problems that seemed to escalate in the last two months and chose to just ignore it.

"Office." Brighton just said in response. He walked to the office and knocked on the door and waited for the 'come in' from the other side. When he got the go ahead, he opened the door and peered in. "Hey dad."

"Oh, Brighton." Maxwell said almost disappointedly. "I thought you were C.C."

"Oh I know how disappointed you must be." Brighton said jokingly as he stepped further into the office. It reminded him of the one he had back in New York after his mother died. There were no longer any pictures on the desk and the shades were constantly drawn. Brighton figured that there was picture of Fran in the bottom locked draw were there was also a picture of Sarah.

"Is there something I can do for you Brighton, I'm very busy." Maxwell said picking up a random sheet of paper which Brighton knew was just away to get him to leave. He hadn't wanted to spend any time with any of his children since Fran's last few days alive.

"No I uh just wanted to say hi." Brighton said obviously shut down that his father was ignoring them again. He went back through the door without giving Maxwell a chance to respond, he didn't even seem to bat an eyelash at this.

Brighton walked back in to the living room. All four of his siblings were waiting for him. Maggie, Gracie and Jonah all looked up with hoping eyes while Eve just continued to read her book. "How did it go?" Gracie asked.

"Sucked." Brighton said simply. They all sighed except for Eve who just started to laugh. The older four looked at her with questioning eyes.

Eve rolled her eyes, put her book down and sat up. "You guys have been at this for two months and nothing's going to change. Just give up already."

"I haven't seen you try to do anything about it." Jonah scoffed annoyed at his twin sisters lack of concern for their father.

"What am I going to do? If he's not going to listen to you four, there is no way I'm going to get through to him." Eve said defensively as she went back to her book.

"But we promised…" Maggie began but was cut off by her younger sister who through her book down and stood up.

"Don't you think I know that we made a promise! Don't you think I remember my mother telling us not to let him become this person again! Don't you think that I feel like I let her down because I don't have any relationship what so ever with him! If you want me to try, fine. But if things get worse, don't stick it on me." Eve yelled in frustration as she stormed off in the direction of her father's office.

Maxwell stared down at the piece of paper he grabbed when Brighton had come in, in order to make himself look busy. Ironically it was the letter that he had found among Fran's possessions after she died. He read it over for the millionth time.

_Dear Max,_

_ I know it's not going to be long now before I die so I just wanted to write this letter to you before I do. _

_ Today I had a talk with the kids. I made them promise to not let you shut them out. I can't come and make sure you spend time with them anymore so you're just going to have to remind yourself. Watch out for them. Make sure Maggie never changes who she is and that you watch out for that beautiful little girl of hers. Give Brighton a little pep talk every now and then when he gets frustrated with his current project. Let Gracie give you a random mental evaluation when she gets bored. Listen to Jonah tell you about all of the things he has accomplished. And lastly protect Eve. I know she seems like the strongest one out of the bunch but you have no idea how much she's going to need you. People always say that you and Eve are nothing alike but I know different. You both are terrible with dealing with your emotions. I know you guys have made some progress over the last couple of months but make sure it stays that way. Don't let her drift away from you Maxwell._

_ I don't regret any __thing__. I'm glad my life happened the way it did. One of the best days of my life was the day I knocked on your door for the very first time and I'm so glad that it happened. I love you with everything in me Maxwell Sheffield and don't you ever forget it. Tell the kids, Niles, C.C, and Val that I love them too. Goodbye Mr. Sheffield._

_ Love Always,_

_ Miss. Fine._

Maxwell knew that Fran had been right but he just couldn't do it. At least not yet. He couldn't face his children, especially Eve. Mostly because she looked just like her mother. He had the same problem with Maggie after Sarah had died.

He was deep in thought when Eve burst through the door. All of the kids knocked on the door before entering besides Eve, just like Fran did in the early years of their relationship. "I think we need to talk." She said, plopping herself down on the couch across from his desk.

"Eve I'm.." he began

"Very busy. Ya I know. This will just take a second." Eve said with frustrated voice. She didn't want to be there in the first place but what she did want was to get her four older siblings off her back.

"Okay. What's on your mind?" Maxwell said as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He had never been particularly good at talking to Eve, even if they had grown closer.

"All this crap needs to stop." She began

"Excuse me?" he asked confused as to what 'crap' she was eluding to.

"You shutting us out. I'm not going to sit around at let you push us away. Believe it or not they need you ." she said pointing in the direction of the living room. "I honestly don't think that me saying this stuff to you is going to do any good but according to Maggie, it's worth a shot."

" Now Eve, that's not fair." Maxwell said standing up from the desk.

"No. You want to know what's not fair? You being so selfish. Do you honestly think that you are the only one hurting right now? You're not alone in this." She said angrily.

"I know that! I loved your mother very much and it pains me to go through this and to watch our children go through this but what exactly do you expect me to do about it?" he said yelling now.

"There are a lot of things that you can do! But you know what? I'm done I just can't handle this anymore." Eve said exiting the room.

Maggie, Brighton, Grace and Jonah had heard their sister and father yelling and knew it wasn't going well. Eve stormed back into the room and up the stairs. A few minutes later they heard a door slam. That was the last time they saw Eve.


	2. Chapter 2

**3 Years Later**

**Los Angeles, California**

Jonah walked into his father's house and put is suite case down. He sighed and looked around at the house that never seemed to change. The living room was empty as he knew it would be. He had just finished his third year of college and didn't live there for the majority of the year. Maggie and Gracie both lived in their own homes nearby, Brighton moved back to New York a year ago, and Eve, well nobody knew where she was. He always thought that the house was too big for his father to live in alone.

"Hello!" he yelled walking towards the kitchen. "Dad? Are you home?"

"Jonah?" he heard coming from around the corner in the dining room. A couple of seconds later Maxwell entered the room. He was wearing his customary suite. Over the years the grey streak on the side of his head expanded until there was no more black left.

"Hey dad." Jonah said greeting his father with a 'manly' hug.

"How were your finals?" Max asked.

"Good but long. I'm just ready to crash for a while." Jonah said sighing as he sat down in one of the chairs.

"Well I'm sure you'll get plenty of rest in France with your uncle." Maxwell deadpanned.

"O ya. Nothing says rest like the busy night club life." Jonah said sarcastically. He had been planning this trip for months now and he was really looking forward to spending his summer in Paris.

Maxwell chuckled and grabbed a few envelopes from his jacket pocket. "These came for you a few days ago."

Jonah looked through the pile. "Val, Nadine, Jocelyn, Nigel and one that's unmarked. Hmmm" He looked at the letter and decided to open it first. He tour the paper and pulled out the card. When he opened the card a picture fell out. Before looking at the picture he read the card.

_Jonah-_

_ Happy our Birthday. Don't get too drunk. Miss you guys. Tell Maggie, B, and Gracie that I love them and you too._

_ -Evie_

After reading it, he looked at the picture. It showed him and Eve as babies being held by their parents. Maxwell brows furrowed as he watched the expression on his sons face change. "Who's it from?"

Jonah didn't say anything, he just handed the card over. Maxwell scanned the contents and his face fell also. When his daughter left home she left a note to Jonah saying that she would keep in touch but this was the first they had heard from her since then. The police couldn't do anything because she was over eighteen and had left a note behind. Where ever she was, she didn't leave any trace behind her. "Well that sure is interesting." He sighed.

"I guess she's okay." Jonah said trying to fill in the silence.

"Well of course she is. She's a very capable girl." Maxwell said. He had always told his older children that. He never let on that he was actually terrified that Eve wasn't okay.

Jonah saw through his façade though. He sighed and spoke again, trying to get on to a new subject. "Are you going to do that thing in New York?"

"I don't know." Maxwell said shaking his head.

"I think you should do it. You've been going out of your mind since you retired. This is a great opportunity." Jonah argued.

"I know. I gave up the whole Broadway thing over twenty-one years ago now. I don't think I got it anymore." He justified.

"You're not going to be in charge of anything really anyways. You're just going to be supervising. Isn't it supposed to be an honor or something when your play get revived?" Jonah questioned. He had grown up around Max's television career and didn't exactly know much about Broadway. He had never really been into theater anyways.

"Yes it's a great honor. This was my favorite play to work on too." Max sighed, contemplating it.

"Wasn't it supposed to be based on your life after Sarah died?" Jonah asked cautiously. Max barely ever talked about either of is deceased wives.

"Yes actually. You're mother tried to get me to re-write it when it was first in production so that the main character fall in love with the governess." He chuckled thinking about it.

"I read the script. I don't think it's very believable that he would hire somebody like that to take care of his children." Jonah said with a smirk.

"There was no one better for the job." He argued knowing they weren't talking about the play anymore.

"I don't disagree with you there. To be honest I was rooting for the two of them anyways." Jonah smiled.

"Yes but I guess he just didn't want to get hurt again." Maxwell confessed.

"I couldn't even imagine." Jonah said sincerely. "So did you come to a conclusion, because I can see that look in your eye."

"I think I'm going to do it." Max said.

"Good. I think it'll be worth it."


	3. Chapter 3

**New York, New York**

Peter Sullivan walked into his Queens apartment after work one day after work. He sighed as he put his brief case down. He searched the room for his girlfriend but came up empty. He sat down on the couch and looked around. There were still multiple boxes yet to be unpacked. They had just moved in two weeks ago but hadn't gotten around to unpacking yet. "Kate? Where are you?" he yelled.

"Bedroom." He heard come from the room behind him. He and Kate had been dating for two years now and had just recently decided to move in together. "Did you bring dinner?"

"No." he said sheepishly just remembering that he supposed to.

"Ugh. I knew you were going to forget. Men are always the same. They want the food but they can't be bothered to buy it." She complained walking into the living room and plopping herself down next to him on the couch. She leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek and cuddled up to him. "How was your day?"

"Okay. I just can't wait until I'm not the low man on the totem pole." He sighed.

"Ya well that Bernstein guy is like a hundred and twenty years old so it probably won't take long." Kate chuckled.

"So what about you? How was your last day of school ever?" he asked

"Oh It was great. I finished my last finale. I was really ready to get out of there. I'm so happy I worked through the last couple summers so I could graduate early." She said excitedly. She was honestly never into school so instead of finishing in four years, she worked through it and finished it in three.

"So now that your graduation is coming up, are you going to invite…" he left open hoping she would finish the sentence.

"No. I'm not." She said firmly even though deep down she knew that no wasn't the answer she wanted to say.

"Okay, totally your call." He said. Peter knew that Kate had a lot of problems with her family but he always encouraged her to make up with them.

"I did send my brother a birthday card the other day." Kate admitted.

"Well that is a start." He said as they fell into silence. One of Peter's favorite things was to just sit there in total silence with Kate, mostly because it was a rarity that Kate was ever quiet, but this time he had to say something. "Are you going to take that job?"

"I don't know." Kate sighed. "It hits kind of close to home."

"If you didn't want to do it, then why did you audition?" Peter questioned. They had, had this conversation multiple times but Kate never seemed to come up with an answer.

"It's a really good part but it would be weird to. You know this part was based on my mom." She said.

"So you'll definitely be the best person for the role." He reassured.

"Ya but it's still my dad's show in the first place." She argued.

"Just because he produced it the first time doesn't mean that he's going to have anything to do with it this time." He reasoned.

"Ya I guess." She thought about it for a little while and came up with her decision. " I'm going take it. You're looking at the governess for the revival of 'The Widower.'"


	4. Chapter 4

**New York, New York**

Kate sat in the fourth row of the theater one Monday morning, taking notes about the show. They had been working on the first act that day and her character didn't enter until the third act but she was doing some extra work for the director by taking notes. Kate watched the scene with a lot of concentration. As she watched she felt a pang of hurt as the protagonist sat with his dying wife. It reminded her of a time only a few years ago as she watched the same scene unfold only the last time wasn't a scene from a play, it was real.

After the rehearsals had wrapped for the day, Kate hung behind to give the director her notes. He finished talking with the lead actor and walked over to her. "Here you go. I think you should focus on the notes about the fourth scene."

"Thanks kiddo." The director said flipping through the notes. "You sure are thorough." He chuckled.

"Ya well that's how I made it through high school." She joked.

"Well I have to say you have done a wonderful job." He smiled. "Such a good job that I'm going to give you another assignment. That is if you choose to accept."

"I'd love to do more around here. It's what I live for." She said excitedly. Ever since she was about six years old, she had always loved the theater, one of the few things she had in common with her father. She didn't care whether it was on the stage or behind the scenes, she jumped at all opportunities to get close to it.

"Good, good. In a couple of days a man is coming to supervise the rehearsals. We're not allowed to say exactly who but he's a big name in the Broadway community. I'd like you to brief him on the progress when he gets here an be kind of a go between for him and the actors." He explained to her. "Are you up for the challenge?"

"Yes. I'd love to." She agreed.

"Good, I'm glad. He'll be here Wednesday morning, is that okay?" he asked knowing that it wasn't really a question.

"Of course. I'll be here at eight." She agreed.

"Thanks Kate, I appreciate it." He said sincerely.

"So do I." she said turning to exit the theater.

"He didn't say who it was?" Peter asked as him and Kate sat down to dinner that night. Kate had just finished telling him about her day and the opportunity that the director had given her. Peter had loved watching her tell him about it because she looked like a little kid at Christmas.

"No, he just said that he was important name in the Broadway community." She said.

"The only person I can think of is Andrew Lloyd Webber." He concluded. Peter had never been one for theater but ever since he had met Kate he had learned to appreciate it because of her passion for it.

"Believe me, Andrew Lloyd Webber would want nothing to do with this play." Kate chuckled. She had heard many stories about the night 'The Widower' had won its Tony's and the bitter rivalry between the producers.

Peter thought about it for a couple of minutes. He had thought of someone else but he was unsure how to approach the topic with Kate. He was surprised that she hadn't thought about it herself but he figured that she was probably in denial. "What if it's your dad?" he said sheepishly.

"No it can't be. Trust me, as much as he loved this play, he would never leave his current work for so long." She said brushing the comment off. Truthfully she had thought about it but decided to ignore it.

"If you're sure…" Peter replied with a little doubt.

"Trust me Peter, the man didn't even take a day off when my mother died." She said reassuringly more for herself then him. "Besides, it's probably just an important backer."

"I guess you'll just see Wednesday." Peter said.


	5. Chapter 5

**New York, New York**

Maxwell Sheffield walked into the theater Wednesday morning at nine. He took a look around and observed his surroundings. He would be lying if he said he hadn't missed the theater. It was his first love, before Fran and before Sarah. He loved producing television for the last twenty years but it was nothing like Broadway. Max was glad to be back.

He spotted the director talking to a young girl at the front of the theater. He started to walk towards them but stopped when he got a good look at the girl. She had long, curly, black hair with beautiful brown eyes. Max had seen those eyes only twice before, in his late wife and missing daughter. His breath hitched, that girl was his daughter.

The director spotted Max approaching and greeted him. "Maxwell, you're here!" Kate froze at the name. She hated when Peter was right, this was no exception.

"Hello Phil. How are you?" Maxwell said stiffly, trying to play it cool.

"Good, and you?" Phil asked politely. Phil's first directing job was produced by Maxwell Sheffield and the two had been friends ever since. Phil knew that Max was going through some rough times and hoped this would keep his mind off of it.

"Good, good." He answered.

"I'm glad. This is Kate Fine, she's the young woman I had told you about." He said pointing to Kate. Phil had told Max about the young woman in a conversation they had earlier that week. He had told him that she had a lot of promise both as an actor and a director.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Sheffield, I'm a big fan." Kate greeted her father, like she had just met him. Maxwell expected as much. He didn't think that she would give him a hug and tell him she loves him after three years of not speaking.

"Lovely to meet you too, Kate." Maxwell said shacking her outstretched hand.

"Well now that you two have met, I'll let Kate update you on our progress. I've gotta go check on a few things." Phil said excusing himself, leaving the duo in an awkward silence.

After Kate had successfully updated Max on the play, she sat in the back of the theater, typing away at her laptop. Max, sitting behind her, stared at her. He couldn't believe how mature she had gotten. She had played it cool the whole time she was talking to him and acted like there was nothing wrong. To Maxwell, however, there was a lot wrong.

Max decided to try to get something out of her, even if it was just a little bit. "So Kate, tell me about yourself." He said casually.

Kate rolled her eyes at the computer screen, she knew exactly what he was trying to do but she wasn't going to let him get where he wanted so easily. She knew that they were going to eventually have to talk about the past, but she just wasn't ready yet. "Not much to tell. I grew up in California, moved to New York and went to NYU, and know I'm here." She said without even looking at him.

Max sighed, she was a very stubborn person. He figured that he'd probably need the help of his other children to get through to her. As he was about ask her another question, she was called to the stage because her character was in the scene they were rehearsing.

Max watched the scene intently waiting for her to enter the stage. Nobody had told him what part she was playing and he was anxious to see where she fit in. She entered the stage through the makeshift door of the main characters office. He watched her as she pranced over to the desk and hoped up on the corner of it. Max let out of a sigh and mumbled "Of course."

Max walked to the door of his sons office later that night. He was staying with Brighton and his family while he was in New York. He knocked on the door and waited for Brighton to answer. Max walked in and sat on the chair opposite of his son. "Hello Brighton."

"Hey Dad, how was your first day?" Brighton asked. He had spoken to his younger brother about his father doing this projected and both agreed that it would be good for Max.

"It was certainly interesting." Max sighed, getting himself more comfortable in the chair.

Brighton knew by his father's behavior that something was up. Maybe, he was wrong. Maybe it wasn't good for him to do this project. "What happened?"

"I saw your sister today." Maxwell confided.

Brighton froze. "I'm going to assume that you're not talking about Maggie or Grace."

"No. I walked into the theater and Phil introduced me to the girl that was supposed to be working with me. It was Eve." Maxwell told him.

"Wow." Brighton said, processing the information. For the last three years, Brighton and his other siblings had been worried about their youngest sister. And he knew that Maxwell, even though he constantly reassured them that she was fine, was worried also. "Didn't Phil know who she was by the last name?"

"That's the thing. He introduced her as 'Kate Fine'" He explained. It was weird for him to call her a name that wasn't the one that him and his wife had given her the day she was born.

"Oh. Well at least we know for sure she's okay. How did she react when she saw you?" he asked curiously.

"She acted like she had never met me in her life." Maxwell said frustrated.

"Makes since. She's always been super stubborn." Brighton concluded. "What are you going to do?"

"I think I'm just going to play along for a while. If that doesn't work I was going to have you kids talk to her." He explained.

"I don't know, she wasn't over thrilled with us when she left either." He said remembering the last time he had seen Eve.

"Why was she mad at you?" Maxwell asked curiously. He had never really knew what went on between his children that day.

"Do you remember how before Eve went into talk to you, I did?" Brighton asked and waited for Max to shake his head before continuing. "Well the reason why I went in there was to try to get you to talk to us. We knew you weren't doing so well since Fran died and we had promised her that we wouldn't let you cut yourself off from us like you did when mom died. I was frustrated when I didn't get any reaction out of you and so were Maggie, Grace and Jonah. Eve acted like she didn't care and we called her out on it and she got pissed and stormed into the office and took it out on you." He explained.

"She's not going to take it out on you, Brighton. I'm the one she's really got a problem with. I think she'll be glad to see you." Maxwell pleaded.

"If you can't get to her in the next week I'll take a crack at it." Brighton promised.

"That's all I ask." Max said with a smile.


	6. Chapter 6

**New York, New York**

Maxwell sat in the front row with Phil later that week watching rehearsal. Like he had been for the last couple of days, Max was focused on his daughter. Although dress rehearsals didn't start for another two weeks, Eve was told to start wearing the impossibly high heels she had to don during the play. It scared Max at how good Eve was at playing the part. Her Queens accent spot on and she knew exactly how much hair to flip when her character wanted to get her way.

As the actor went to take their break, Phil turned to Max and said " So what do you think so far?"

"I think it's coming along splendidly. You definitely have a great cast." He said encouragingly.

"I'm glad you think so. They are a very promising bunch. I know we haven't been able to talk much but I wanted to know how it's going with Kate." Phil asked.

"It's been going very well. She's a very bright kid and extremely efficient." Max said reassuringly. He had been very impressed with her work ethic but was still having a difficult time getting through to her. "She keeps to herself though doesn't she?"

"Ya nobody knows that much about her. All I know is that she graduated from NYU arts earlier this summer and she lives with her boyfriend in Queens." Phil explained.

Max's breath hitched as soon as soon as Phil said 'she lives with her boyfriend'. He would never allow any of his daughters to move in with boyfriends so young and Eve knew that. It seemed to him that every little piece of information he had heard about Eve's life for the last three years went against what he would say. Max knew it was time to put an end to this game, he was done.

Kate stood up from her seat in the theater after here meeting with Maxwell. The whole time they worked she saw that look in his eye. The same look that told her she was in trouble when she was younger. For the last four days she had ignored all the openings he had given her to talk to him as his daughter. Just as she was about to leave she heard him call after her. She turned around and saw him standing. "Are we going to talk about this?" he prompted.

"About what?" Kate questioned even though she knew perfectly well what he was talking about.

"You know what, Eve." He said sternly. It was the first time that he had used her real name since he had gotten there and the first time anyone had called her it in over two years.

"Not here." She hissed.

"Rainbow room. Seven." Maxwell answered.

"Fine." Kate sneered before spinning around and exiting the theater.

Max stared after her and sighed heavily. "This is going to be a long night."

"What are you going to do?" Peter asked. He sat on his and Kate's bed that evening as she raided their closet looking for something to wear to dinner that night. He dodged the clothing items flying at him.

"I'm going to tell him what he wants to know." Kate said coming out of the closet with two dresses in her hands. "Blue or green?"

"Blue." He answered. " So you're just going to go in there and tell him everything? Just like that?" he questioned.

"Green it is." She said throwing the blue dress back into the closet and began making her way to the bathroom. "Well that was the game plan but if you've got a better idea, let's hear it?" she said sarcastically.

"I just don't get it. You've gone through all this effort to separate yourself from them and now he just shows up all of a sudden you're ready to forgive and forget." Peter said slightly confused. He had never been entirely supportive of her shutting out her family but he still didn't get it.

"I'm not saying that we are going to forgive and forget. But I think this charade has gone on long enough. Besides, I have to talk things out with him before I can get reacquainted with my siblings. I really do miss them." Eve sighed. She knew that she was to blame for their separation but she was willing to, try to make amends.

"Okay. So you'll be good while I'm gone though?" Peter asked for the hundredth time.

"Yes go meet your new niece. Tell Susan and Bill I said congratulations." Kate said. Earlier that day Peter found out that his older sister was giving birth to her and her husband's first child, so he was flying out to Boston that night.

"Alright but call me if you need anything." Peter said.

"Yes sir." Kate joked.

Max and Kate sat in the Rainbow room later that night. Neither had said anything since they had arrived. Max had tried to start the conversation but was at a loss for what to say. Kate knew that her father had a difficulty with words and decided to start things off . "I know you probably have a lot of questions, so ask away."

"Did you come right here after you left? " Max asked to start off.

"Ya, I had all my graduation money still so I bought a one way ticket to JFK and never looked back." She stated.

"Okay. Where were you staying?" Max asked, hoping that she would be open to answering all of his questions like she did the last one.

"I was living on Lanie's couch for about six months before grandmother found out I where I was and came to get me out of there." Kate explained.

"So you were sleeping on Nadine's daughters couch." Maxwell said frustrated already. He had worked hard all of his life to make sure his children had a good life and here was his daughter was telling him she would rather be sleeping on somebody's couch. "What happened with mother.?"

"Well she told me that it was time for me to grow up and make something of myself, so she paid my way through college." She continued. "Although I don't think she expected me to go to arts school to become a director."

"How did you already graduate?" Max questioned. Jonah had only just finished his junior year so he was curious as to see how she already graduated.

"I took extra classes during the summer so I could graduate early." She answered. All of the questions he had asked so far were ones she had anticipated and knew that she would just tell him everything he wanted to know.

"How have you been getting around with a fake name? Did you legally change it?" Max asked. What had bothered him the most was the fact that she wasn't going by her real name.

"No, I didn't have to. My birth certificate says 'Eve Katherine Fine Sheffield'. You and mom had Gracie fill me and Jonah's records and she was going through the whole woman's lib faze." Kate explained.

"Right, right." Max said softly, shaking his head. He then asked the question that had been gnawing at him since the day they found the note she had left telling them she was leaving. "Why did you leave?"

Kate snorted. The question was almost funny to her. " You know exactly why I left."

"Not really. All I know we were having an argument and then you were gone." He hissed. He knew that she would not want to give him a straight answer.

"You were pushing us away!" she said angrily.

"And you turned around and did the same thing." He retorted.

"Ugh." Was all she said back. She knew he was right but she would never except defeat and admit it.

"A lot has happened in the last three years that you should have been there for. Margaret and Michael had a son, Brighton and Paige are expecting their second child, Grace is engaged." He told her. "Do you know how upset she was when you weren't there to celebrate that with her. And what about Jonah. You to have been inseparable forever until you left."

"I'm sorry okay. I didn't think that I would separate myself from them but as time went on it got harder to go back." She told him.

"What about your friends." He said undeterred. " Caroline needed you last year but you were nowhere to be found."

"What would Carly need me for?" Kate asked. Carly was the daughter of Niles and C.C. and the two had been friends since they were babies.

"Niles past away last year. That girl needed her best friend." Maxwell informed her.

Kate's breath hitched. " You know what dad, I loved Niles but why the hell should I be there for her. Was she there for me when I needed her after mom died? No she wasn't, she was off gallivanting with that ass of a boyfriend of hers." She countered.

Maxwell sighed. He knew that Eve was right. The last few months that Fran was alive, Carly was barley around. She had gotten into a lot of trouble in the last few years and ended up pregnant at eighteen. "We were all worried about you. You could have at least called and told us where you were."

"I wanted to, okay. But I knew if I told them where I was, they would tell you." Kate admitted.

"So this whole time you were just trying to get away from me." Max concluded.

"I couldn't stand it anymore. It made me so angry that Maggie, B, Gracie and Jonah were so upset that you were holding them at arm's length when to me nothing had changed. I don't know what it was but for some reason you had held me at arm's length for my whole life." Kate said with tears in eyes. Before Maxwell could respond, Kate was gone.


End file.
